The Dare (28 page)

"A girl with green eyes and dark hair had
captured your attention, and for some reason, maybe it was the
kiss, or maybe it was the way she fit perfectly into your arms, you
fell."

I rose to get up.

"Sit down."

I sat.

"Funny," my father nodded, "because I
remember the story a little differently."

I looked out at the crashing waves and
waited.

"Your mother and I forced you to take your
cousin to her senior prom. You fought us on it until I finally put
my foot down. She didn't have a date, after all. A few hours later,
you came back to the house in such a frenzy I thought something had
happened."

Squinting, I looked up into his eyes. "I
never came back to the house, Dad."

He sighed. "You did. The therapists said that
telling you about what you didn't remember could cause emotional
damage, so we kept it quiet. Never in my life did I think it would
be so important."

"I don't understand." I scratched the back of
my head, feeling the scar from the surgery.

"Of all the things to forget, you forgot the
accident and things leading up to it, but you remembered that damn
kiss you shared with that girl, and it wrecked you."

"You're telling me this now because?"

"Because it will help. I hope to God it
helps, because I'm about at my wit's end with you." He smirked
lovingly. "You ran into the house and said,
'Dad, I've met the
girl I'm going to marry.'"

Suddenly, I was in my parents' living room
again.

The memory hit me full force. I tried to
stuff it back into my mind. I tried to ignore the pain in my chest
as it sliced me completely in half.

"Dad!" I ran into the house. "I need the cell
phone, and I'm going to take the car."

"You're back already?" He straightened his
tie. "You sure are in a hurry, son."

"I met her," I said, grinning like an idiot.
"You and mom were right. It happened just like you said it would.
It was like… it was magic!"

"What was?"

"The kiss!"

"You kissed your cousin? Son, sit down…"

"No!" I yelled. "I kissed Beth. She goes to
Macy's school and was there with some other guy and... I want to
catch her in time!"

"And what's your plan, once you catch
her?"

"I haven't thought it out," I admitted. "But
it's going to involve kissing."

"Keep your pants on son." Dad laughed. "And
be careful."

"I will!" I promised and ran out the door
yelling, "Dad, I met the girl I'm going to marry!"

I was driving too fast, not caring that I was
breaking so many laws that my license could get revoked. I
accelerated through a yellow light. And that's when I heard the
screeching metal of steel on steel.

My world went completely black.

I woke up three months later from a coma. And
the first word that trickled out of my mouth was, "Beth."

But she had already gone, already left for
school. She hadn't cared enough to look into how I was. Hell, she
probably hadn't even known who I was or that I was the same guy
she'd kissed. The same guy who had almost died trying to see her
again.

I felt like I couldn't breathe. All this time
I thought I'd walked away from her, but I'd gone back. I'd gone
back to make the big gesture because those few minutes were enough
to make me believe in something I'd always told myself wasn't
real.

Dad placed his hand on mine. "Love at first
sight."

"Doesn't exist." I snapped, jerking my hand
back.

"That experience changed you." He shook his
head sadly. "You poured everything into the next two years of high
school and then graduated early from college. You lived and
breathed your job."

"Because my job won't ever let me down. It's
consistent. The one time I took a chance in my life, and I almost
died."

"You afraid of a little coma, son?"

"My brain was swollen for three months, Dad.
I could have been a vegetable the rest of my life, all because I
was careless."

"With a car. Not with your heart."

"Are we done?"

"Don't disappoint me." I froze.

"How the hell is me walking away from Beth
disappointing you?"

"Because, I know you, son. You wear your
heart on your sleeve. You want to take that leap for her, but
you're too chicken shit to do it. Tell her the truth. Tell her what
happened."

"And if she rejects me? Like I deserve?"

"Think of it this way." My dad took a long
sip of coffee. "What if the car would have made it to prom? What if
you would have walked into that gym and seen Beth, with those
pretty green eyes, staring at you."

"I would have kissed her," I croaked. "And
probably made an ass out of myself."

"You would have told her you were going to
marry her someday."

I didn't respond. I couldn't. My chest felt
so heavy with emotion that I wasn't able to take deep breaths. I
wheezed, coughed, and took a few steps away from my dad before
stopping and turning.

"Were you in on it?"

"On this?" Dad spread the napkin across his
lap. "Why, son, it was my idea."

He said it so calm that I thought he had to
be joking.

He took another sip of coffee and smiled.

Holy shit.

"Grandma?"

"Offered her expertise. How else do you think
I was able to plant the media outside the hotel? Grandma can't be
in two places at once. She slipped something in your drinks, made
sure you made it safely to the hotel, and I took care of all the
rest of the details. Right down to sending media to the
airport."

"But
—
"

"Grandma was with you the whole time," Dad
laughed, "texting me details."

"But the resort we're staying at? She's a
therapist here."

Dad looked at me like I was stupid. I hated
being looked at like that. "Titus Enterprises owns several hotel
chains. You're staying in one. How else do you think Grandma could
infiltrate the staff so effectively?"

"I think I'm going to be sick."

"Good." Dad's eyebrows quirked. "At least
you're finally feeling something."

"But…"

"Son... it's when you're at the end of your
life that you start thinking about the beginning. Choices made,
things you should have said, people you should have forgiven. I
don't want that for you. I saw you going down a path that I knew
would end in heartache. Travis and I went golfing soon after you
confessed about second chances. That's when I put two and two
together. It was easily done, and when I saw you at the wedding. I
knew…"

"You mean when you drugged us at the
wedding."

"My idea was to get you caught in a
compromising situation on camera, not drug you, fly to you to
Hawaii make you bleed your feelings all over a therapist, and get
your first experience with Viagra."

I winced.

"But Grandma had a point. You two needed time
to get to know one another, and she provided a safe media-free
environment for exactly that to happen. My only question is… did it
work?"

"Did what work?"

"Our plan?"

I was silent for a few seconds.

"Son, do you love her?"

"I do." I licked my lips, feeling like a
thousand-pound weight had been lifted off my shoulders. "I really
do."

"Then chase her."

"What if she doesn't want me back? How do I
even know that she would have dated me had my car made it back to
the gym?"

Dad smirked., "Son, that's why they call love
a leap. It's a bit like faith. You know it exists, though you can't
feel it."

"I have no faith in myself."

"That's okay," Dad nodded, his eye welling
with tears, "because I have enough faith in you for the both of
us."

"Well," the agent scratched his chin, "you
can keep a secret. I'll give you that."

"Thank you."

"But the senator is still missing, and by the
looks of it," he checked his watch, "it's been over forty-eight
hours."

"One more hour." Grandma smiled.

"One more?"

"And then I'll bring you the senator and his
lovely wife."

"Wife?"

Grandma smiled. "Then again, I can't be in
two places at once, or can I?"

"I may need more coffee."

"Trust me. The rest of the story is my
favorite part."

Beth

Two weeks had gone by, and I hadn't heard
anything from Jace. Though, lucky me, I kept getting really
pathetic and sad looks from Jake and Char every single time I went
over to their house.

We had dinner every Sunday.

They thought they were helping me get over my
sadness by feeding me enormous amounts of wine and food. Jake,
bless his heart, also felt the need every once in a while to pat my
hand. You know, like I was a three year old. Other times, he'd just
stare at me really hard as if by him staring and giving me one of
those
Aww
–looks, I'd soldier on.

This Sunday I just wanted to forget
everything that had happened. I expected to have a nice quiet meal,
where Jake sent me concerned looks while filling my wine glass to
the brim, and Char cursed men everywhere, except for her husband,
who, since getting married, had earned saintdom in her eyes.

So when Grandma threw open the door to Jake's
giant house on Lake Washington, I almost fell ass-backwards.

She pulled me in for a hug and squeezed so
tight I think I felt a rib pop. "Oh, honey bug! How are you?"

"Great," I lied, forcing a smile. Emotionally
I was feeling a bit wrecked, add that to the whole flu bug I'd
somehow caught the day before last, and I was just one giant ball
of fun.

I wasn't sure if it was the rib-popping
squeeze or maybe just the emotional stress of seeing Grandma again,
but I suddenly felt like I was going to puke. I pushed past her
just in time to throw open the bathroom door and empty the contents
of my stomach into the porcelain toilet that probably cost more
than my rent.

"Beth?" Grandma knocked softly on the door.
"Sweetie are you alright?"

I flushed the toilet, rinsed out my mouth
with water, and opened the door. I hated puking. Nothing was worse.
I hated the way it tasted, and I hated how it made my stomach
clench so tight that I wanted to curl into a ball and die. Plus,
puking always made me want to cry.

Why was Grandma smiling? My eyes
narrowed.

"A touch of the flu?" Now her eyes were
twinkling as she rubbed her hands together.

I nodded slowly. "Yeah, I've been queasy
these past few days."

"Interesting." Grandma nodded, her smile
growing by the second. "Positively… perfect."

"Perfect that I'm sick?" I asked, confused as
my stomach clenched again.

"Oh honey, you just let me take care of you."
She patted my hand then shouted so loud my eardrums nearly burst.
"Jake! Grandma's staying a few weeks!"

"The hell you are!" Jake shouted back from
somewhere in the house.

"He's teasing." Grandma winked "I'm ALWAYS
WELCOME IN MY GRANDSON'S HOME!"

"YOU BELONG IN A HOME!"

"WHAT? YOU BOUGHT ME A HOME?"

Cursing followed, and then dishes banged
together before Jake rounded the corner, his eyes narrowing in on
Grandma and then me.

"You're pale."

"Jake thinks himself a doctor now." Grandma
rolled her eyes.

"Why are you pale?" He reached out and
grabbed my wrist and then felt my forehead. "You don't feel
hot."

I shrugged. "I don't think I have a
fever."

"She puked." Grandma felt the need to add

"I'm fine." I was going to lose my mind if
they both kept staring at me like I was in a museum. Just let me be
sick and feel sorry for myself, damn it!

"What's wrong with Beth?" Char ran down the
stairs.

"She puked," Jake said at the exact same time
that Grandma declared, "She's pregnant!"

"What!" we all said in unison while Grandma
clapped her hands in glee.

"I'm not! No, I'm not." I started getting
hysterical. "It's impossible."

"You've been having the ex." Grandma
nodded.

"Grandma stop putting
the
in front of
everything."

Char grabbed her husband's hand. "The Jake is
right. It's getting weird. And Beth, do we need to have a little
talk on how babies are made?"

"Oh, I have a chart for that!" Grandma held
up her hand.

"I burned that chart last week," Jake shot
her down.

"But they were color-coded," Grandma said
dejectedly. "I spent hours on them."

"Listen," I held up my hands in innocence, "I
don't need charts, and I don't need help. I'm not pregnant. I
didn't have
the sex
with Jace, or at least I didn't while
in…" My head suddenly started pounding. Would I be that stupid?
Would Jace be that stupid? The night of the wedding? Holy crap,
holy crap. I reached for something to hold onto and latched onto
Jake like a leach. He looked panicked as I gripped the front of his
shirt.

"Hello?" Grandma said.

I turned slowly to see her leopard cell phone
attached to her ear.

"Yes, Jace."

"No!" I shouted, launching myself at
Grandma.

She hung up and chuckled to herself. "Well,
that was easy."

The doorbell rang.

Seriously. Was I hallucinating?

Grandma all but skipped to the door and threw
it open.

Jace.

I opened my mouth to speak just as Grandma
shouted, "Beth's with child!"

"What?" Jace roared, his face turning red.
"Who the hell did you let touch you, Beth? I swear I'll kill him.
I'll rip him apart with my bare hands! You hear that, bastard? I'm
coming for you!"

"I'm not
—
"

"Aren't you a little late to be playing
hero?" Jake said smugly. "What the hell are you doing here
anyway?"